In the field of painting and decorating, despite the technology advances that have been made in the rapid application of paints and stains to large areas by the employment of airless sprays and pressurized roll technologies, it is still necessary for a craftsman to apply paint to window sashes, frames, doors, trims and difficult-to-reach areas by traditional brush and roller means while standing on a ladder. In order to accomplish many coverage areas, the painter has to be in awkward, uncomfortable and often dangerous positions on his ladder. Unlike the carpenter or plumber who proceeds the painter, the painter is not afforded the luxury of a dry, readily"pocketable" or "enpouchable" tools. The very nature of painters' craft dictates that his tools will be covered with paint in order to accomplish his job at hand. Also, unlike the carpenter, whose nails and screws may be readily carried in a pouch or nail apron with little likelihood of spillage and little damage done should the spill occur, the painter must carry his materials in a liquid-containing pail or bucket which must have an opening at the top thereof to permit frequent required reloading of the paint brush while constantly attempting to maintain the paint pail or bucket in a near vertical position to prevent serious spillage of the compound which, at best, is difficult and costly to remove and at worst, may require employment of sophisticated solvent compounds which may have adverse affects upon the environment. Furthermore, unlike nails which may fall on the ground and be easily reused, paint, once spilled is forever lost, thus placing an economic burden of material replacement upon the painter.
Another challenge faced by trim or finish painters is carrying all the tools that will be used or needed to accomplish a complete painting operation without the requirement for constant descending and re-ascending a ladder to sequentially acquire different tools required to finish the job or task at hand. Of course climbing and descending from a ladder causes another hazard. Historically, as reflected by the prior art, attempts have been made to make it easier for painters and others to carry materials and equipment attached to, or suspended from, the body of the users through the employment of various belts, harnesses, and attachments and some progress has been made, though no commercial success or general usage of earlier teaching is in evidence. Examples of these devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,051 to Robinson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,281 to Bird. The main problem with these devices is that they hang on the side of the painter and add additional weight to the painter and may cause him to become unbalanced when he ascends or descends or is painting on the ladder. Thus one of the objectives of this invention to eliminate the need for the painter to hold or suspend the paint from his person so that the painter can move around on his ladder without fear of losing his balance or spilling the paint. One of the features that solves this problem is that the invention is not carried on the person of the painter. The invention is supported by the ladder.
This feature has also occurred in the prior art in U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,581 to Christ et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,808 LaChance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,817 to Beachy, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,763 to Woytowich. U.S. Pat. No. 4,911,808 to LaChance shows a bracket attached to the side of a ladder. The problem with this set up is similar to the problem with a belt around the painter's waist with the paint can attached and hanging down from the side of the painter. This setup places additional weight on side of the ladder and thus makes the ladder unsteady. U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,817 to Beachy shows a device attached by nuts and bolts to the top of a ladder. The problem with this device is that it needs to be attached to the ladder and becomes nearly a permanent attachment through the bolts. Secondly one would need to attach the device to the ladder and place the ladder in position against the building before the paint cans and paint brushes can be placed in the holder. Thus, the painter may have to make more than one trip of the ladder to place the cans and brushes in place. Also, from the patent it looks as if the paint tray fits on the top or next to the top rung of the ladder. Thus, the painter has to be painting near the top of the ladder in order to use this devise. Thus, one of the objectives of the invention is to create a paint tray that can be used by the painter at more than one position on the ladder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,581 to Christ et. al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,763 to Woytowoich also have much the same problem as Beeche. They need to be attached, since their attachment is complicated, to the ladder before it is placed in position. Thus, the paint trays must be attached to the ladder and the ladder placed in position and then the paints must be moved us to the ladder. Thus, one of the objectives of this invention is to create a paint tray for a ladder that can be easily carried up the ladder and attached in position once the ladder is already placed in position. This makes the placing of the paint tray on the ladder more efficient and does not require the painter to move up and down the ladder a few times just to place his articles in the paint tray. Another objective of the invention that cannot be accomplished by Beeche, Christ, or Woytowoich are that the paint tray can be moved while the painter is doing his painting on the ladder without taking the ladder down and removing the paint tray and placing it at another position and placing it back up again. The painter can actually remove the paint tray while he is doing his work. Thus, if he needs to move a little bit higher on the ladder he could take the paint tray off one rung and move it up a couple rungs higher without taking the ladder down to remove the tray. This allows the painter to work more efficiently and be able to move around in many different positions.